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In sensational and happy news coming in from the world of hockey, the Indian junior team registered a massive 22-0 win against USA in the Sultan of Johar Cup in Malaysia on Wednesday. The boys who have made India proud made sure that the country registered its second biggest win in international hockey.

The biggest incidentally also came against USA but back in 1932 at the Summer Olympics when the Indian men team won 24-1. So the big boys are still one up on the young cubs.

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India on Sunday ended their 10-year wait for continental triumph when they beat a gutsy Malaysia 2-1 in a nail-biting final to clinch their third Asia Cup hockey title.

India, which won the Asia Cup last time in 2007 in Chennai, scored from field efforts through Ramandeep Singh (3rd minute) and Lalit Upadhyay (29th) to dash Malaysian hopes. Malaysia were in summit clash for the first time since tournament’s inception.

The ever-improving Malaysians, however, fought valiantly and didn’t give up for a single minute. Their efforts bore fruit in the 50th minute when Shahril Saabah pulled one goal back.

After the two easy wins against Japan (5-1) and hosts Bangladesh (7-0), as expected India had a relatively tough outing against Pakistan but managed to maintain their all-win record.

India controlled the proceedings for the better part of the match, barring the final quarter when Pakistan, trailing 0-3, came hard on the Indian defence in search of goals.

But at the end of the day, the Indians came out superior and continued their recent domination over Pakistan, that includes back-to-back victories in the Hockey World League Semi-Final in London earlier this year.

Chinglesnsana Singh (17th minute), Ramandeep Singh (44th) and Harmanpreet Singh (45th) scored the goals for India, while Pakistan lone strike came from the stick of Ali Shan in the 49th minute.

By virtue of this win, India finished on top of Pool A with nine points from three games while Pakistan secured the second spot with four points.

Both India and Pakistan have managed to secure their place in the round-robin Super 4 stage of the tournament.

Even though Japan defeated hosts Bangladesh 3-1 earlier in the day, the victory was not enough for them to enter the Super 4 stage as they lost out to Pakistan on goal difference.

Contrary to the win, Pakistan had the first real scoring chance when they earned their first penalty corner but they wasted it.

The Indians came out hard in the second quarter and took the lead in the 17th minute through Chinglesnsana, who slammed home after receiving a fine pass from Akashdeep Singh, who was operating in the wide right.

Three minutes later, Gurjant Singh’s reverse hit from the right flank was just off target.

After wasting another penalty corner, Pakistan were denied by young India goalkeeper Suraj Karkera, who saved Mohammed Attiq’s shot from close range as India went into the breather leading by a goal.

India replaced Karkera with Akash Chikte in the goal at the halfway mark and the young custodian came up with a superb save in the 40th minute to deny Pakistan.

India secured their first penalty corner soon but Varun Kumar’s grounded flick was wide off the target.

Soon Gurjant had a great chance to consolidate India’s lead but his push, after a fine one-two with Akashdeep was saved by the Pakistani goalkeeper.

After Pakistan wasted their third penalty corner, Ramandeep doubled India’s lead in the 44th minute with a neat deflection off Harmanpreet Singh’s fantastic cross from the middle of the pitch.

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Gurjant Singh and Mandeep Singh scored a goal apiece as a resolute Indian men’s hockey team overcame world No. 4 The Netherlands 2-1 in an exciting encounter here.

Led by Manpreet Singh, the team on Monday featured nine players from the junior team, but still, beat an experienced Netherlands squad through goals from Gurjant (4th minute) and Mandeep (51).

India, thus, won the two-match series 2-0.

India straightaway sought to put pressure on the home team and the positive intent worked as they drew first blood through a penalty corner awarded in the fourth minute.

While it was Varun Kumar who attempted the drag flick which was padded away by the Dutch keeper, Gurjant was quick to pick up the rebound and work his reverse stick magic to put the ball high up into the net and score his first international goal for the men’s side.

India continued the strong attack as they made forays into the striking circle. Armaan Qureshi made a great attempt to take India’s lead to 2-0 with a shot on goal but it went slightly wide.

Though the Dutch tried to make amends when they won a penalty corner in the early minutes of the second quarter, the flick was brilliantly saved by India goalkeeper Akash Chikte. That didn’t deter the Dutch side who attempted a full press and even put India under pressure by winning three more PCs, but they could not make the opportunities count with Chikte staying up to the challenge.

With a 1-0 lead, the third quarter saw the Netherlands make desperate attempts to come back into the game but India absorbed the pressure well, only to execute a stronger defensive structure that kept the Dutch from scoring.

The final 15 minutes saw India increase their intensity in attack with Gurjant winning a PC, but it was saved.

The following minute saw Sumit win a PC for India, and this time they tried a different variation that worked like magic with striker Mandeep deflecting into the goal to double India’s lead to 2-0.
Soon after, the Dutch won a PC but debutant goalkeeper Suraj Karkera was up to the task to defend. With final three minutes remaining, Dutch forwards made three strong shots on goal but an alert Karkera kept them from converting. However, Saander de Wijn through a PC scored in the 58th minute but that didn’t stop India from walking away with a 2-1 win.

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The team led by Rani arrived here one week prior to the tournament which has helped in preparations. Getting acclimatised to the conditions in the host city which is at an altitude of 1,753 metres was easier thanks to the high-altitude training held at SAI Centre Shillaroo before arriving for the event which is also a World Cup Qualifier. “We had some good short training sessions here over the past week and the girls did well. They did not tire easily which was one of the main reasons to have the high-altitude camp. We have one session planned today (Friday) on the game pitch which will count as our final preparation before the start of the tournament,” expressed chief coach Sjoerd Marijne on the eve of the match. The womens team also played two practice matches against England and Ireland. “Both teams are physically dominating when they play. So, the exposure against these two teams before the start of the tournament was good. I personally think South Africa plays a lot like Ireland. We controlled the entire game against Ireland and against England we did well first half with better control. “It is important for us to play disciplined hockey and if we are able to do that then we have a great chance of doing well,” he added. India have Chile, USA, Argentina apart from South Africa in their pool. “The mood in the team is quite upbeat ahead of our first match. South Africa is ranked around us (No.13 in the world) and I feel we have improved a lot over the past year and are mentally a tougher team than we were before. I am quite confident we will get off to a good start and then take it match-by-match. First goal here is to make it to the Quarter Finals,” said striker Rani about the mood in the team. While both South Africa and Chile are ranked below India at No. 13 and No. 20 respectively, USA and Argentina will pose bigger challenges for the team. While USA is ranked No.6 in the world, Argentina are ranked No.3. “A lot of what we did in the camp over the past few months under Chief Coach Sjoerd involved mental training as a major aspect. We initially did have small mental blocks against playing higher ranked teams. But I think we have overcome that and know that we must just stick to our plans, structure and give our 100 per cent,” stated an optimistic Rani

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With a dominating performance, India beat Pakistan 7-1 to register their third straight win and seal a place in the quarter-finals of the Hockey World League Semi-Final on Sunday. India were on the offensive right from the world go and buoyed by Talwinder Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and Akashdeep Singh’s double strikes, India went on to top the table in Pool B.

India got their first goal in the first quarter when skipper Harmanpreet converted a penalty corner. After Pardeep Mor won his team a second Penalty Corner, the drag-flicker Harmanpreet fired in a grounded stroke after a successful injection from Ramandeep to get India the lead.

The team went on to double the lead in the second quarter with Talwinder finding the net. After another forward push, SV Sunil took the hit and Talwinder gently pushed the ball inside the goalpost to give India a 2-0 lead in the 21st minute.
Talwinder went on to double his tally with another field goal in the 24th minute after the forward deflected a high ball into the cage.

Pakistan, who made repeated incursions into the Indian half, failed to find a goal while India pounced on most of their opportunities. In the third quarter, India won another PC and Harmanpreet found the net once again to put India 4-0 ahead. Pakistan continued to push forward and then earned two back-to-back PCs, but Indian custodian Vikas Dahiya, who too had a stellar game, denied the opposition.

India did not relent and made it 5-0, with forward Akashdeep getting himself on the scorer’s list courtesy a sublime pass from Sardar Singh. He fired right from the top of the Pakistan D and hit the mark in the final quarter. Mor then helped himself to goal with a fantastic strike. Pakistan pulled one back late in the match with a 57th minute strike from Muhammad Umar Bhutta. But India completed the rout with Akashdeep Singh finding the net in the 59th minute. India will next play Netherlands on Tuesday.

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London: – India continues their successful run in the Hockey World League Semi Finals. It is India’s second consecutive win in the Semi Finals at the hockey world League. India defeated Canada for three against no in Saturday in the pool B game at the Lee Valley Hockey Centre. S.V. Sunil started the run with first goal in the fifth minute of the game. India gained the first Penalty in the starting of the game itself but India was wasted by Harmanpreet singh. India’s next Match is between Pakistan on Sunday. This Sunday, Today is an important day for the both Indians and Pakistanis because today is the super Sunday. Today there is both Cricket and Hockey matches between both the teams. Hockey India had reached the quarter with the victory.

David Carter made a great defense for Canada throughout the match, but it was in vain. He made a successful save in the first quarter. He stopped the strong effort by Ramandeep Singh. The attacking side was strengthened the first goal for Indian side in the fifth minute of the first quarter. India doubled its account in the 10th minute through the goal of Akashdeep Singh. He carried the pass from Ramandeep Singh towards the goal. This resulted in the second goal of the minute. India made the third goal in the 18th minute of the game. Sardar Singh scored the third goal to increase the goals in the account and make India more secure.

Canada was not able to make an opportunity in the game. Canada find a successful attack in the second half through a penalty corner but Indian Goal keeper stopped three counters from the penalty. Akash Chikte, who replaced injured Sreejesh did a good job as a goal keeper. India got three more chances through penalties but the Indians wasted it. Indian team was not able to secure goals from the penalties. This changed the game.

Vikas Dahiya substituted Akash Chikte after the second quarter also made wonderful saves. Manpreet and Chinglensana got yellow and green card and went out for some time. India will look for a good sunday with two victories both in Cricket and Hockey.